Hays County Confederate veterans and their families gathered for a reunion in the summer of 1896 and formally organized the Camp Ben McCulloch Chapter of the United Confederate Veterans near this site at Martin Spring and a campsite on Onion Creek. The organization purchased the reunion grounds in 1904, and they have continued as the site of the annual reunion except for one year during World War I. The first commander of Camp Ben McCulloch was Capt. Martin Luther Reed, and other officers elected at the first meeting were Jacob C. Quick, W.M. Weaver, W.W. Davis, W.T. Chapman, Dr. J.M. Pound, and Santa Anna Cruze. The camp was named for Confederate General Ben McCulloch, also a veteran of the Texas Revolution, who died in the Battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas, in 1862. After Burl Nash, the last veteran in the county, died in 1947 at age 108, the reunion grounds and other responsibilities were transferred to the care of the Confederate Sons, who in turn deeded the camp to the grandsons and other descendants of the Confederate veterans. Reunions continue to be held, illustrating the ongoing impact of the Civil War on Texas history.